Festival to honor Handley grads

WINCHESTER -- Three John Handley High School graduates who have achieved a measure of fame will return to the city for this year's Shenandoah Apple Blossom Festival, event officials announced Monday.

Broadway actor Kevin Covert, a 1988 Handley grad, will be honored by the festival this year, a news release states.

Covert has been part of several award-winning productions, including "Monty Python's Spamalot." He also has acted in traveling productions of "Cats," South Pacific," "Oklahoma" and "Les Miserables."

Covert, who has lived in New York for the past 10 years, is slated to appear this fall in "Memphis," a new Broadway musical.

Jon Huertas, a television actor who graduated from Handley in 1987 as Jon William "Scott" Hofstedt, also will attend the festival.

Huertas currently plays detective Javier Esposito on ABC's "Castle." He also has performed in the HBO miniseries "Generation Kill" as Sgt. Tony "Poke" Espera.

Award-winning opera singer Norman Shankle also will attend the festival. After graduating from Handley in 1988, he studied vocal performance at Shenandoah University.

He has performed with the San Francisco Opera as well as in productions in Germany, Italy and New York.

Each guest will appear in this year's parades, said the festival's president, Elaine Aikens, but won't stick to a strict schedule.

Daily Staff Report